The scheme operates similar to other phone scams by using panic and pressure to get a victim to send money through a prepaid debit card, a wire transfer or mobile payment services such as Venmo, Cash App and Apple Pay.Įl Paso FBI Supervisory Special Agent Andres Hernandez of the Violent Crimes and Major Offenders Squad speaks about virtual kidnappings Tuesday at a teleconference meeting with the news media. The scam, which has been in the El Paso-Juárez area for over a decade, also is known as the 'hostage' scam and telephone extortion. Virtual kidnappings have been reported across the United States and internationally as far away as Australia. But the number of victims could be much higher because people often are too embarrassed to report that they were tricked, Hernandez said. There have been less than 15 phone extortion cases reported to the El Paso FBI this year. 'It’s very easy to get victims (in El Paso) because of the proximity to the border,' said Hernandez, supervisor of the FBI's Violent Crimes and Major Offender Squad in El Paso. In one case, a victim, falsely believing a family member was held hostage, walked over the border and deposited money into a Mexican ATM, Hernandez said.

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